Hi everyone, I plan to clean a barn to prep for re-staining. I’ve done some fences and decks, but I would appreciate any advice you have on cleaning vertical walls like the one pictured. I believe it is water-based stain currently on the barn, but I am not 100% sure. I told the owner that the results for removing stain can be inconsistent and he is fine with this; however, I would like to do a really good job with this.
My current plan is this:
Pre-wet wood
X-jet F-18/Sodium Hydroxide or Sodium Metacilicate.
Lots of rinsing
Spray with oxilic acid.
Rinse
Am I on the right path with this? Will Sodium Hydroxide do the trick or should I try a hot mix of SH first (2-3%)?
I’ve watched a lot of Everett Abrams, but I’m still unsure of the best process.
Thank you!
Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to follow up with the process I followed to help guide anyone else doing a project like this.
I ended up x-jetting sodium hydroxide and letting it dwell for about 30 minutes (while keeping it wet). I then rinsed the sodium hydroxide off, which takes quite a lot of rinsing. Finally, I x-jetted oxalic acid and let it dwell about 10 minutes before doing a final rinse.
Here are the results:
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So this was all done at low pressure from the ground? What concentration of Sodium Hydroxide did you use?
Yes, I was able to do almost all of it from the ground. I did go back with ladder and hit a few spots again with direct mix. I mixed about 16oz of Sodium Hydroxide per gallon and x-jetted without the proportioner.
Awesome, this looks great! Anyone know how much hydroxide you can add to water before it starts stripping paint? I’ve got a wood house I’ve bid recently. I planned to use the standard house mix followed by 1000 psi method, but it would be nice if I could soft wash it instead.
Do you have any more details on the project? Are you trying to strip the stain/paint or just clean it without damaging the finish?
Sodium Hydroxide is a stripper so you don’t want to use in on paint unless you want it stripped. I don’t even like using SH on painted wood because it can even cause the paint to come up if it gets underneath and cracks. I’ll use a little of there are organic stains anywhere on the house. Otherwise I just use a little surfactant.
That turned out great @StevesHomeServices! Nice work!
